


Tethered

by drunkgoose



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Adopted Peter Parker, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Kid Fic, Kid Peter Parker, Light Angst, M/M, Protective Tony Stark, Steve is a good dad, Superfamily (Marvel), Tony is a good dad, house husband Tony Stark, like very light, marvelbingo2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-15 03:44:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18490642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drunkgoose/pseuds/drunkgoose
Summary: When Peter becomes impossible to keep an eye on alone Tony resorts to buying him a safety harness, Steve (and some mommy bloggers) are less than impressed.





	Tethered

“You’ve got to be kidding me?” Asked Steve, a look of bewilderment in his eyes, “Tony? This is a leash”.

“No”, Tony replied, firmly, snatching the offending item out of his husbands hands, “It’s a harness, and this isn’t a discussion”. Of course that didn’t impress Steve, only Captain America could pack a duffel bag disapprovingly. “I don’t care Steve, you aren’t with him everyday, I can’t take him anywhere without him bolting the second I look away”. Which wasn’t an exaggeration either, they’d been to the zoo the week before and one of the guides had stopped them to ask him a question and before he knew it Peter had let go of his hand and was off like a shot. Even trying to take him to the mall was a nightmare. Once he and Steve had been arguing over which pair of shoes to buy him and he’d just tottered off from where he’d been sitting. If it wasn’t for the store assistant spotting him at the last minute he would’ve wandered out into the street.

He was just curious, or tactile might have been a better word, it was like he had a need to touch whatever caught his eye, and Tony had tried literally everything else. Keeping him in his stroller was no use, he was four and change, but was a smart kid who’d long figured out how to get himself loose. He’d tried carrying him around, but Tony’s body wasn’t exactly in tip top shape after being thrown around in a metal can for the better part of a decade. Not to mention that little Peter _loved_ the arc reactor (and anything bright and shiny really), it hadn’t been so much of a problem when he’d been smaller, it was cute even, but the prodding and poking was starting to get painful and he’d even managed to unclip it from its socket once. Which had been terrifying, it was a good job Steve had been with him because he’d pretty much thrown the kid into his arms so he could plug the reactor back in place.

“I know I’m not around as much as you are, but a leash seems a little extreme”.

“Harness, not leash, look it’s even got a little dog backpack”.

“He’s never gonna learn to control himself if we have him tethered to our side”. Tony was starting to get annoyed. After they’d adopted Peter he’d gone into semi-retirement, he still tagged in when the team needed him, but after Ultron he wasn’t in the best of places to be running around with the Avengers anyway. He was still designing tech for SI, but apart from the odd meeting or press event he mostly worked from home. Steve on the other hand was still very much an Avenger, and Tony had never, and would never, ask him to give that up, but to say it hadn’t led to there being somewhat of an imbalance in how much time each of them spent with their son would be a flat out lie.

“How the hell would you know”, he muttered under his breath.

“What?”

Tony immediately regretted letting his inner monologue run free, but what else was new, “I said, how the hell would you know? Seriously, I mean when was the last time you actually spent time with him outside the tower without me being there”.

“That isn’t fair”, he protested, knowing exactly what Tony was getting at “You never asked me to quit”.

“And I’m not asking you to, I’m asking you to trust that I know what I’m talking about. I’m one person Steve, I can’t watch him every second of every day, and what if something happens to him? We’re not exactly the safest people to have as parents”.

Steve sighed, “So that’s what this is about? You’re worried that something’s gonna happen to him?”

“He’s a four year old! He can’t exactly defend himself, all it takes is a minute for him to wander off and not come back and god knows what could happen to him”.

“Okay”, said Steve, pulling him into a hug, tucking his head underneath his chin, “We’ll use the lea-harness” he corrected himself, “If it makes you feel safer”.

“Daddies?” the little voice was followed by the tiny pitter patter of feet along the towers hardwood floors, and Tony realised their bedroom door had been open the entire time, he held his little arms out for Steve to pick him up, “Were you fighting?”

Tony’s stomach clenched, he’d spent his entire childhood overhearing screaming matches between his parents, “No sweetie”, he said, “Well maybe a little bit, but it’s all better now, do you want Daddy to carry you to bed?”

“Are you leaving tomorrow?” asked Peter. The Avengers had been called to some situation in South America, apparently an offshoot of Hydra was trying to terrorise the local population, hence the duffel bag.

“Yeah, but I’ll be back as soon as possible”, Steve promised. As Peter had gotten older he’d started to ask questions about why Steve disappeared from time to time, at first they had just said he was going away for work, but that hadn’t placated the kid for long, and they knew lying would only mean having to backtrack later on. “And Daddy’s going to take you to see Auntie Pepper whilst I’m gone”.

“Really!” he said, looking over at Tony.

“Sure kiddo, but let's not get too excited, we’ve gotta go to bed if we want to be ready to get on the plane tomorrow”.

“Okay”, he mumbled, snuggling further into Steve’s side as he was carried back to his bedroom.

The trip to California was less about seeing Pepper and more about keeping Peter distracted whilst Steve was away, and if he was being honest, keeping himself distracted. It was easier not to worry when he'd been there with him, had known everything he'd known, which wasn’t so much the case when he was a thousand miles away. It was a little tradition they had, whenever Steve was away, Peter and Tony would do something fun together. Which normally meant crowded places filled with a million hazards that would be dangerous for a regular kid, hence the need for the harness. Especially in California, which somewhat unfortunately, Peter had started to associate with Disneyland, in fact Tony wasn’t sure if the kid realised that ‘California’ and ‘Disneyland’ didn’t mean the same thing. Peter had turned his nose up at the harness at first, and Tony wasn’t about to force him to wear it, but once he’d seen the dog backpack he’d completely changed his tune and Tony was actually a little worried he wouldn’t be able to get him out of it. He also really hoped that he wasn’t going to start asking for a dog because there was no way Steve would be able to say no to him.  

They’d got a few sideways glances as they were walking around the park, that mostly turned into embarrassment once they realised _who’s_ parenting they were judging. But between the harness, and the hoards of security that were (discreetly) accompanying them, it was the calmest Tony had felt out alone with Peter in months.

“Daddy”, Peter said, his lip pouting outward a little bit, he’d been starting to trail behind him for about half an hour, and his little legs could only go so far.

“You getting tired bud?” asked Tony, “You want me to carry you for a little while?”

He nodded, “Yes please”.

“Okay”, he said, hoisting the growing child into his arms, “But only till we go get something to eat, Daddy isn’t getting any younger, and what are we absolutely not allowed to do when Daddy’s carrying you?”

“Play with the light”, Peter said, somewhat glumly, his lip starting to pout again. He had special blackout shirts that he wore when they were going somewhere fancy, but they were tight, all black and not exactly breathable, and it was Springtime in Southern California so that was definitely not happening.

“Uhh uh, don’t give me that face, it’s dangerous to play with the light, if it falls out then Daddy could get hurt, and you don’t want Daddy to get hurt do you?”

“No”, he said, wrapping his arms around Tony’s neck. Once Peter was settled and not playing with the arc reactor he went to take him for some dinner, Tony knew he wouldn’t last much longer, they’d been walking around all day and he must’ve been exhausted. He perked up a bit after they’d eaten, but even so they made their way back to the park entrance once they were done.

Of course the next day twitter was full of pictures of them wandering around the park together, harness on full display, which apparently set off a few mommy bloggers who weren’t impressed with the fact Tony Stark was leading his child around on a leash, which in turn sent a cascade of people rushing to his defense. Tony found the whole thing hilarious, arguing to Pepper (who wasn’t so amused) that on the whole it was about the purest scandal he’d ever been involved in. Although Steve was pretty confused as to why the first thing he was asked by the press when he got back was his opinion on mommy bloggers.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on tumblr @drunk-goose


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